Natural England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2008) |
| Natural England | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Non-Departmental Public Body |
| Founded | 1 October 2006 |
| Headquarters | Sheffield, England |
| Key people | Sir Martin Doughty (Chairman) Dr Helen Phillips (Chief Executive) |
| Industry | Natural environment |
| Revenue | over £400 million GBP (2006)[1] |
| Employees | 2,500 |
| Website | www.naturalengland.org.uk |
Natural England is a Non-Departmental Public Body of the UK government. It was formed (vested) on 1 October 2006. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment.
Natural England was established by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, which implemented the recommendations of a rural review by Christopher Haskins, Baron Haskins of Skidby. It was formed by the amalgamation of three founder bodies:
- Countryside Agency, the landscape, access and recreation elements
- English Nature
- Rural Development Service, the environmental land management functions of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
It received the powers of the founder bodies e.g. awarding grants; designating Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest; managing certain National Nature Reserves; overseeing access to open country and other recreation rights; and enforcing the associated regulations. It is also responsible for the administration of numerous grant schemes and frameworks that finance the development and conservation of the natural environment, for example Environmental Stewardship.
As an NDPB it is theoretically independent of Government. However, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs will have the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters[2], a constraint that is not placed on its predecessor NDPBs. Natural England takes its Finance, Human Resources and Estates services from the Defra Shared Services organisation[3]. Information Technology services are outsourced to IBM[4]; it will be responsible for the delivery of some aspects of Defra's Public Service Agreements (e.g. reversing the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020 and improving public access to the countryside).
Natural England is focusing its activities and resources on four strategic outcomes:
- a healthy natural environment
- enjoyment of the natural environment
- sustainable use of the natural environment
- a secure environmental future
An article in the 'Farmer's Guardian' of 9th November, entitled "Staff morale low, but Natural England boss says farmer customers are happy" reported the results of a survey of the Natural England staff one year after the organisation was created. The following summary was given:
"Natural England Survey Summary
The employee survey was conducted in late September/early October to mark NE’s first year. About 2,000 employees responded.
THE MANAGEMENT - Asked if they could change one thing about NE, 635 people identified ‘senior management and leadership’. This was the top answer by 421 ‘votes’. - Just 5 per cent of those surveyed agreed that the executive board ‘listen to Natural England’s people’. 66 per cent disagreed. - 10 per cent said the board was ‘visible’, compared with 69 who said it was not. - Only 14 per cent said they had a say in changes that directly affected their job. Nearly two-thirds said they did not.
MORALE - Only 14 per cent of people said morale within their team was good, while two-thirds disagreed. One-fifth said their own morale was good. Three times as many said it was not. - Nearly 60 per cent did not feel secure in their role. - Just a fifth of workers were ‘proud’ to work for Natural England and only 17 per cent would recommend it as a place to work. - 15 per cent feel a ‘sense of belonging’ to the agency, compared with 59 per cent that do not.
CUSTOMER DELIVERY - Half believe Natural England’s quality of service to customers is getting worse, against 16 per cent who believe it is improving. - Only 29 per cent said Natural England was committed to customer satisfaction.
COMPARISON - Where comparisons with other Government departments and agencies were possible, Natural England scored lower than the average on 29 of 36 questions. - It did not achieve an above-average score on a single question."
www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=24&storycode=14181
[edit] References
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007) |
- ^ Speech by the Rt Hon David Miliband MP at the launch of Natural England, London - 11 October 2006
- ^ NERC Act 2006, Powers of Secretary of State, Guidance
- ^ Public Update on implementation of Lord Haskins’ Rural Delivery Review, Recommendation 6
- ^ Natural England chooses IBM as its transformation partner
[www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=24&storycode=14181]
